


Customer Relations

by QuickedWeen



Series: Tech Support [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (to be), Alternate Universe - Bakery, Baker Harry, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Blind Date, Drama Teacher Louis, M/M, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 03:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9530396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickedWeen/pseuds/QuickedWeen
Summary: Harry anxiously awaits a visit from Louis, the customer service rep he instantly connected with when he called to fix his laptop.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyLondonderry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLondonderry/gifts).



> This is a sequel - I HIGHLY recommend reading Part 1 first!
> 
> This is part of a prompt challenge that a group of us are participating in for the prompt "Scream". To read the other amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, you can [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/scream/works) and to see all fics written as part of the challenge, you can [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/2017_hl_prompt_challenge/works).
> 
> Special thanks to [KK](http://archiveofourown.org/users/waytoomanypeopleintheaddisonlee) for beta-ing!!!! and [Emmi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLondonderry) and the rest of the group chat for this idea! I have now found my niche market in H/L fics about laptop hinges.

**FRIDAY**

 

An entire baking sheet of chocolate croissants crashed onto the countertop while Harry was attempting to stash his phone back in his apron pocket. Yelping at the noise, he realized that he missed both the cooling rack and his pocket, resulting in the precarious placement of the pastries, and his phone face down on the fatigue mat beneath his feet.

He quickly righted the mounds of buttery goodness by laying them out to cool, and anxiously retrieved his phone to make sure the screen wasn’t cracked. Through bleary eyes, he squinted at the readout of the bakery kitchen clock. 5am. Great. Only five more hours to go. Maybe? Hopefully?

Earlier in the week he had called the HP customer service line to try and get his laptop fixed, expecting someone off in a distant land like Missouri or something. Where even was Missouri?

He had definitely not been expecting a post-grad uni student from Manchester with a downright seductive voice. Louis. That's what his name was. He knew Harry's name, address, and place of employment, but that last one was only because Harry had blatantly flirted with him. Before his most recent break up, he had been with Ryan for a year, and he respected monogamy (unlike some people) so he hadn't tried that hard to flirt with anyone.

Having Louis be the voice on the other end of the line was fun. Harmless. Anonymous. Right up until halfway through the conversation - that was definitely not about the thingie that held his laptop together - when he realized he was seriously considering marrying this voice on the other end of the line and moving out to a small village to raise at least five kids with him.

Harry should probably figure out what Louis looked like first. Louis had after all hinted that he had looked at Harry's twitter profile to check him out.

At the end of their conversation, Louis had promised to come into Harry's bakery, Hearts & Flours, at half ten this Friday. Today, Friday. But that wasn't why Harry was so jittery this morning. Definitely not. Nope. No way.

By the time 10:15 rolled around, Harry felt like his skin was two sizes too small, and his stomach was performing the final routine from Dirty Dancing.

By 10:25, an entire tour group full of women who were old enough to be his Nan filed into the shop, and he got stuck behind the espresso machine filling coffee orders left and right while Niall doled out the baked goods.

At 10:30, the reminder he definitely did not set on his phone went off and he immediately stopped what he was doing to look around the shop. Obviously, he didn't expect Louis to get there at exactly half ten, but a guy could dream.

There weren't many candidates, if he was basing his initial assumption on Louis not being seventy years old decked out in a pink wool jumper. There were three candidates, to be precise. A tall, skinny bloke with dark curly hair and a rather long face, and two younger lads sitting at a table in the very front corner window of the store.

The older guy didn't look right. Harry wasn't sure why, but instinctively, he knew. The two guys at the table were much more likely. One was sitting with his back to the window facing the rest of the bakery; he had a kind, open face, and medium brown hair, cut high and tight on the sides. All he could really see of the guy sitting opposite him was a soft grey beanie covering his head.

Either one of them could be Louis. When they were on the phone, he told Louis that when he came into the shop he would have to let Niall know so Harry could be pulled from the kitchen, but this was better – Harry was on the lookout.

“Excuse me young man, I asked for an Americano… this is a Macchiato.” Harry sighed and went to go switch the woman's drink with her friend's.

It wasn’t until 11:15 that the rush really let up and Harry resigned himself to the fact that Louis was probably not coming. He wouldn't have given up so easily except that Louis said he would be stopping by before his teaching certification course, which had most likely already started. But then again, what did Harry know? He was the one flying blind in this situation.

With Niall out of the weeds once again, Harry retreated into the kitchen to finish frosting the cupcakes that had cooled and would be put out for the afternoon customers.

Friday morphed into the craziness of a sunny and clear Saturday, with a steady stream of customers all day. Harry considered busy Saturdays his penance for the peace and quiet of Sunday mornings.

On Sundays they didn't open until 9, giving Harry two extra hours by himself in the kitchen before opening. Even better, in direct contrast to the weather the day before, it was pouring down rain, so they would probably be pretty slow all day.

Normally, Harry would revel in this particular set of circumstances, but ever since the mysterious Louis had been a no-show on Friday, he was finding it difficult to be alone with his own thoughts. He kept replaying their conversation over and over again. Louis had ended it by saying, “See you Friday,” but Harry could sense he had a flare for the dramatic. He did want to become a drama teacher after all! Harry gave a little chuckle at his own joke.

Maybe Louis had forgotten about it, hell he talked to people all day every day, maybe Harry had just been a blip on the radar.

“Mate, you have got to take a break,” Niall announced upon arriving to open the front.

“What do you mean? I'm fine Niall,” Harry shot back defensively.

“Yep, you are absolutely fine. Which is why you just sprinkled the cheddar cheese topping onto the cinnamon chip scones.”

Oh. Whoops. Maybe Harry was a little distracted.

“Is it that guy, again? The one who was making you all nervous before he stood you up?”

Harry scoffed, “Cheers, mate, thanks for the reminder.”

“Hey, none of that. Have you tried doing some good old-fashioned Facebook stalking?”

“That's not really my thing, Ni.”

“C’mon. We've got some time. I'll help you.”

Leigh-Anne, the other Sunday cashier came in, put on some music over the bakery speakers, and set to opening up.

Half an hour later, they were nowhere. Harry's very nearly unattached laptop screen was being propped up on the table by a sugar shaker in front of Niall while Harry looked over his shoulder.

They started searching with the name Louis in the vast number of people who lived in Manchester. Way too broad. Then Niall tried searching for Louis that lived in Manchester and worked at the local HP call center, too specific. Finally, they began going through the local universities’ drama programs, but there were quite a few and no way of knowing which one Louis attended.

All the while Leigh-Anne had opened up the bakery and a few customers began to trickle in. There was no line or anything, but there were some stragglers set up at various tables around the shop.

Harry heard a rough grinding noise, and almost immediately, Leigh called him over to help. Sometimes their espresso machine was twitchy, and it had chosen that morning to act up. Harry abandoned Niall in his quest to cyber-stalk Louis, and lifted the break in the countertop. He opened up the top of the machine to take a look while Leigh-Anne helped a mother and her children that had just approached the counter.

“Hey Haz, c’mere, I think I found him!” Niall declared across the entire bakery. Even while he was shushing Niall, Harry’s heart gave a little flip.

“Niall, I can't, I've got to fix this stupid thing.”

“Switch!” Niall yelled, leveraging himself up off the cafe bench, bounding over to where Harry was dismantling the press. “I'll take over here, but I think you’re going to want to check out that Instagram account I found.”

“Yeah, alright, why not?” Harry replied, wiping his hands off on his apron as he went.

He sat down in front of his computer and was immediately blown away. There on his dilapidated screen was the most beautiful man he had ever laid eyes on. Soft brown hair with a messy fringe, striking blue eyes, and a sharp jawline dusted with just enough scruff.

“Niall, don't tease me like this. Why do you think this is him?” Harry couldn't possibly be so lucky as to have the man on the screen be the voice from the other end of the customer service line. Surely not.

“Well, for one thing, his name is Louis, he lives in Manchester, and he’s the right age. I found him through one of the drama programs.” Entranced, Harry continued to scroll wide-eyed through this beautiful Louis’ pictures while Niall kept talking, “and on top of that, he’s got a picture on there where he's wearing a headset, and the caption is ‘Is this shit over yet?’ Get it, like ‘shit’ instead of ‘shift.’”

Harry gave a strangled laugh at Niall’s explanation. There was a picture of Louis with a group of girls that vaguely resembled him. Sisters? Cousins? A selfie, and subsequent pitch picture, from a United match. And, God help him, a topless selfie of Louis with a few other equally under dressed guys, clearly in some kind of backstage dressing room, fully made up, getting ready for a show.

He. Had. Tattoos. This was just unfair.

“Niall, this is unfair,” Harry scolded as he absentmindedly traced a finger over Louis’ chest piece. There were swirly letters spelling out ‘It Is What It Is’ across his bronzed skin right under the dip of his collarbones. Just in time, Harry remembered that he was in public, in his bakery, and should not lick his computer screen.

“Um, Haz…”

Harry ignored him, he just couldn't stop scrolling through Instagram-Louis’ pictures.

“No, Niall, this is your fault. Do you know what you've done? You have given me this beautiful man on a silver platter, and what if it's not him? Huh? What then?”

“Hazza, I really think you should-”

“Because, now, all I want is to have all of the babies with this lovely man on Instagram, whose name is Louis, who I’m now going to have to reconcile with the other Louis. Did you ever think of that? Huh, Niall?”

“Whatcha lookin’ at, Harold?” The soft, husky, familiar voice was much closer than anticipated.

Harry screamed and slammed his laptop shut.

He would have loved to say it was a strong, manly scream, but it wasn't. He also would have loved to say his laptop survived the assault, but it didn't.

Harry slamming it shut had been the final nail in the coffin, and the screen had finally snapped at the hinges, completely disconnecting from the keyboard half. The two halves now laid together as if it was properly closed, and it would look as though it still worked, if not for the plastic bits and metal parts hanging off the back.

All he could do was stare at it in shock.

“You know you should really look into getting that fixed. I hear HP has great customer service.”

There it was. The voice again. Louis’ voice.

Slowly, Harry raised his eyes from the remains of his laptop, up the body of the man standing in front of him. Joggers, soft hips, sweatshirt, raincoat, umbrella – and then Harry saw it, the top of a swirly ‘Wh’ sticking out above the neckline of his shirt.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut and willed the floor to open up and swallow him whole. Niall had been trying to warn him, which meant Louis had been there for a little while. He must have heard him.

“Can we pretend none of that just happened?” Harry asked, eyes still shut against the embarrassment. There was a pause, then Harry heard the chair across from him scrape back, followed by the sound of Louis plopping down in the seat.

“I don't know, Harold, do I need to be jealous of this Instagram-Louis?”

Harry buried his face in his hands, “You were supposed to be here on Friday.” That was all Harry had to say for himself. It was the only explanation he could think of, and it wasn’t a very good one.

“I know.” Something about the way Louis’ voice softened – teasing lilt forgotten for the moment – made Harry finally open his eyes.

He instantly regretted it.

Louis, real life Louis, was indeed both the phone Louis and Instagram Louis. But now, Harry wasn’t experiencing his voice through the phone or his beauty through the screen. He was here. In 3D Technicolor. And he was amazing.

“Hi,” Harry managed to force out.

“Hello, Harold, you look lovely today.” It was a lie, Harry knew it was a lie, he had been baking, he was wearing an apron, and he was probably covered from head to toe in flour and espresso grinds, but it was exactly what he needed to hear to let go of his tension.

“Louis,” Harry wasn't sure why he was stuck on monosyllabic answers but he hoped to improve to at least a second word.

“That's me,” Louis replied rather sheepishly, “I'm sorry for surprising you like this, but when I was here on Friday you got that big group in and I kind of lost my nerve.”

“You were here?”

“Yeah with my mate Liam, we sat in the corner so he could check you out for me because I was nervous.”

Suddenly it dawned on Harry, the two boys at the front corner table, “Beanie.”

Louis’ smile broke across his face, and it was as if the sun had come out. He was blindingly gorgeous. “Yeah, I wasn't sure if you would spot me or not, but I was fairly certain you didn't know what I looked like, though that appears to have changed this morning,” he tacked on pointedly, raising his eyebrow at Harry, taunting him. “Or is it a different Louis on Instagram that you want to have, ‘all the babies with.’”

Harry buried his face in his hands again, “Shut up.”

“What was that Harold? I couldn't quite hear you.”

“Yes, okay, it was your Instagram. Niall found your Instagram.”

Louis was positively bouncing with glee watching Harry squirm again. He paused, and seemed to have at least some mercy on him, “Well, the feeling is mutual, Harold, you're very fit.”

Harry didn't realize he had been smiling so hard until he tried to smile harder and it only made his cheeks hurt. Louis’ smile was equally wide, and they were so wrapped up in staring each other, that they didn’t realize neither one of them had spoken for awhile.

Suddenly, an Irish brogue burst through the bubble they had formed; “So, you must be Louis, then?” Harry had no idea when Niall had come over to the table, but it startled him a little. The adrenaline surge from Louis showing up was clearly still making him jumpy.

“Yep, that’s me! Are you Niall?” Louis replied, gesturing towards Harry’s dearly departed laptop, “The one who found my Instagram?”

“The one and only!”

“Cheers! Thanks, mate, I could not have asked for a better reaction when I came in.” Louis’ gaze found Harry’s again and he winked. He fucking winked. Now Harry wanted to melt into the floor for an entirely different reason.

Louis was here. In person. He was clearly interested in Harry enough to actually approach him, but what now? Did Harry ask him out? Did he wait for Louis to do the asking? Normally Harry just let the other person approach him and ask. He had never had to deal with the uncertainty before, and he was beginning to realize just how spoiled he had been.

He was going to do it, he was going to ask Louis out. And if it went down in flames, he definitely did not Niall to be a first-hand witness. He cleared his throat to get Niall’s attention. No reaction. He cleared it again, louder. Nothing. “Thank you, Niall,” he finally ground out.

“Are you trying to get rid of me, Haz?” Would the embarrassment never end? Harry needed a new best friend.

“Yes, Niall.”

“Alright fine, I can take a hint.” Niall shrugged and headed back to the counter.

“Clearly, you can’t!” Louis called after him, sending Harry into a fit of giggles.

“So, Louis,” he began once he had recovered.

“Yes, Harold?”

“Do you have any plans for this afternoon?”

“As a matter of fact, I don’t. Do you want me to come pick you up for lunch when you’re off your shift? 12, right?” The fact that Louis remembered what he had said about his schedule turned his insides to mush.

“Yeah, you could come back then. Or maybe, you want to stay and help me?” gesturing towards the entrance of the kitchen behind him.

Louis’ whole face brightened, “I’m shit at baking, but I could keep you company? Then lunch?”

Harry exhaled in relief, “Yeah, that sounds good.”

With that, Louis grabbed Harry’s hand and led him into his own kitchen. He was happy to follow.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please reblog the tumblr post [here](http://becomeawendybird.tumblr.com/post/156678888491/customer-relations-by-quickedween-chapters-11)! 
> 
> I really like this world, I think it's adorable, and there are a lot of great places it can go! This idea was from [LadyLondonderry](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLondonderry). If you have any more ideas, or particular trials and tribulations you would like to put them through, let me know. :)


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